The sound of shattering porcelain was painfully piercing.
At that instant, everyone froze. The movers' eyes went wide, and the villa's bodyguards were just as stunned.
For a moment, no one knew what to do.
"What happened?!" After the crash, Butler Li immediately ran in from outside the villa, with Hai Gaopeng following behind him.
"This..." When Hai Gaopeng saw the fragments covering the floor, shattered beyond recognition, his face filled with shock and horror.
"Dachengzi, what happened?" Though shocked, Hai Gaopeng swept his gaze over Chu Tiannan and the wiry man and asked gravely.
"I... I don't know either. My leg suddenly cramped just now."
The wiry man's eyes were full of panic. Looking at the porcelain fragments on the floor, his face went white, and he could barely get his words out.
"Clap, clap..." Just then, applause sounded from one side. Everyone, including Chu Tiannan, looked over with slight frowns.
Luo Ji stood up, his face turning cold, and said flatly, "I paid your moving company to come here, and this is how you move my things?"
His voice was not loud, but Hai Gaopeng's expression changed when he heard those words.
He hurried over to Luo Ji with an ingratiating smile.
"Young sir, my worker was at fault. Please be merciful. Dachengzi has an entire family, young and old, depending on him. If..."
"Is that an excuse for making mistakes?" Luo Ji sneered, pointing at the fragments on the floor with a snort.
"This large porcelain vase was worth half a lifetime of work for everyone here combined, and you think you can just break it like that?"
When Luo Ji's gaze fell on Chu Tiannan in particular, he pointed at him and said,
"He was one of the people carrying the vase. Call the moving company. Don't let a single one of them off!"
"Yes, young master!" At his words, Butler Li began taking out his phone.
"Sir, this..." Hai Gaopeng was so frightened that sweat broke out on his forehead.
He dreaded dealing with difficult clients like this. It was not as though he had never encountered such a situation before.
But this time, a slipup by one of his own workers had caused the mistake.
"I think my companion's leg didn't cramp. You did something to him, didn't you?" In the midst of the tense atmosphere, a calm voice drew everyone's attention.
Chu Tiannan crouched down and picked up an inconspicuous little emerald-green stone from the floor, saying with a faint smile,
"I think... this was what made Brother Cheng's leg cramp, wasn't it?"
"Yes, I did feel as though something hit my leg at the time. Otherwise, it couldn't have cramped." The wiry man beside him realized it too and nodded repeatedly.
"What outrageous nonsense. Who do you think you are?" Luo Ji only laughed more brazenly. Ignoring the movers' hostile gazes, he sneered.
"You broke our family's valuables, and now you want to shirk responsibility?"
"Tiannan, this has nothing to do with you. Stay out of it." Hai Gaopeng was already distressed enough and could not help shaking his head slightly at Chu Tiannan.
"Since Young Master Luo Ji has put it that way, let's call the police and find out whose responsibility this is." As he spoke, Chu Tiannan stepped forward, holding the little stone, and said with a smile,
"Young Master Luo Ji, shall we have this stone checked for fingerprints?"
At the mention of checking for fingerprints, Luo Ji's expression shifted slightly. Then, his embarrassment turning to anger, he said, "Fine! Even hired workers have no respect for their employers now. Guards, seize him and that man and take them to the police station."
"Yes!" Two of the four bodyguards immediately stepped forward, both sneering viciously with riot batons in their hands.
"No... I don't want to go to the police station!" Dachengzi's face filled with terror. As the two burly men reached for him, he instinctively fought back, knocking one of them to the floor.
"Motherfucker, if I don't teach you a lesson, you'll think you can do anything you want!" the other burly man cursed at the sight.
He swung his baton hard into Dachengzi's arm. Dachengzi screamed and clutched his arm, cold sweat pouring down from the pain.
"Brother Cheng!"
"Dachengzi!"
Chu Tiannan and Hai Gaopeng cried out at the same time. Chu Tiannan's gaze instantly turned utterly icy, cutting toward Luo Ji himself like a blade.
"Seize him!" For some reason, Luo Ji's body trembled slightly when he saw Chu Tiannan's sharp gaze. Knowing that he was an advanced student, Luo Ji hurriedly shouted the order.
"Kid, resist and you're finished!" The remaining two bodyguards swung their batons straight at him.
Perhaps because of Dachengzi's example, these two struck even more decisively, intending to subdue Chu Tiannan in an instant.
After all, in their eyes, although they were all paid to do a job, their status was far higher than that of these people.
With someone powerful backing and encouraging them as well, they acted with even less restraint.
Watching the two batons swing viciously toward him, Chu Tiannan finally made his move.
"Luo Ji, you forced me to do this!"